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Hi all, my latest finished build: Airfix's B-25D Mitchell in 1:72 scale. In the colours of the Soviet Air Force, 1944, Uman. Brush painted in Vallejo acrylics, built out of box apart from Eduard canopy masks and plastic stand. A very pleasant build without any real issues! My first time building a twin engine bomber so the additional interior sections, twin engines, etc, added a bit of challenge. And building it in flight saved me the bother of landing gear, my least favourite bit of any build 😁

Hurricane Mk.IIA/B/C Eastern Front Deluxe Set (70045) 1:72 Arma Hobby The Hawker Hurricane was one of Britain's foremost fighters of WWII, and although overshadowed by the more graceful and slender Spitfire during the Battle of Britain, it was a capable aircraft that was available in large numbers, and made more than its fair share of kills during the conflict. It went on to see service to the end of the war, but was relegated to less onerous tasks as technology leapt forward resulting in faster, more agile aircraft that came on stream on both sides of the conflict. The type originated in the early 30s and first took to the sky in 1935, despite the Air Ministry’s tepid reaction to monoplanes at the time, and it was an aircraft that set standards for fighters that followed it, being a monoplane with a predominantly metal airframe, retractable landing gear, an enclosed cockpit and of course the delightfully powerful and throaty Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Compared to the Spitfire it was a little old-fashioned, starting out with a fabric-covered ‘rag’ wing that was eventually replaced by an all-metal unit, and it was less aerodynamically streamlined, with a thicker wing and overall chunkier, blunt appearance. Although the wing was replaced by a metal aerofoil later, it kept the fabric rear fuselage and as such was able to have minor damage repaired quickly and easily, compared to the Spitfire that would have to go back to a repair facility for structurally insignificant through-and-through bullet damage. A fabric patch and a few coats of dope, and the Hurri would be back to the fray, which endeared it both to its pilots and ground crew alike. The Sea Hurricane was initially developed to be launched from Catapult Armed Merchantmen (CAM Ships) as a one-shot launch that would be used to defend a convoy from attackers, and then either flown to friendly shores, or ditched close to the convoy in the hope of being picked up. The aircraft were converted from well-used airframes for a last hurrah to protect the merchantmen, and were initially known as Hurricats. They had several alterations to make them suitable for launch and operation by Navy pilots, including naval specification radio gear. The later 1B was equipped with an arrestor-hook and catapult equipment and were used on aircraft carriers of various types, while the later 1Cs had cannon armed wings and an over-boosted engine that put out 1400hp at low level. The IICs were used on naval carriers, and over four hundred were built. The Kit Arma’s Hurricane Mk.I was first issued in 2018, and has been reboxed in various guises since then. This new boxing depicts the Hurricane in British and Soviet markings on the Eastern front, with two kits in the box plus 3D printed extras, so you can build yourself a brace of Hurris. The kit(s) arrives in a slightly larger than usual end-opening box, and inside are four sprues of grey styrene, two clear sprues, a Ziploc bag of 3D printed parts that is wrapped in bubble-wrap, two sheets of pre-cut kabuki-style masking material, a large decal sheet and the A5 instruction booklet with colour profiles to the rear. If you’re a neophyte to Arma Hobby kits, the detail is excellent, with fine engraved and raised details, plus a generous quantity of components within the box that many companies would consider to be aftermarket. As a 1:48 modeller, I was really quite envious of the quality of these kits until the 1:48 boxings started popping up, but I’m OK now. As there are two kits in this box, just assume that we’re talking about and photographing everything in duplicate, except the decal sheet and resin parts, which contains markings and parts for both kits. Before starting building the kit, the instructions have you choose the decal options you plan on building, which will affect which wing parts, tail-wheel, and chin intake that you use, with some more changes requires along the way, which is pointed out in red where necessary. With that preparation done, construction begins with the main gear bay, which is made from two parts that form both bays in one D-shaped assembly, with a central tank applied to the front wall before it is inserted into depressions inside the wing, which is moulded as a single span part top and bottom, filling some ammo chute holes under the wing for some options. Work begins on the cockpit, starting with the rear bulkhead, which has an angular headrest, the seat in styrene or resin (your choice) and decal four-point belts if you don’t use the resin seats, which have the belts moulded-in. The instrument panel is also made from the styrene panel with raised details and two decals, one for the panel, the other for the compass between the pilot’s knees for enhanced detail. The cockpit sidewalls are detailed with decals and styrene parts, and you can also add quite a gaggle of 3D printed resin parts if you wish to give your model more detail, adding a cross-brace under where the seat is fitted, and gluing the completed instrument panel into the front. On the top of the wing, the foot troughs are moulded-in and receive the control column and rudder pedals, and the fuselage is closed around the rear bulkhead and seat. The wings and fuselage can now be mated, taking care not to ping off the raised cockpit detail perched atop the wings as you bring them together. At the rear, the elevators are moulded as full-width fin and separate flying surfaces, and drop onto the back of the fuselage with the fin and moulded-in rudder inserted from behind to complete the empennage after removing the aerial peg at the top of the rudder for some options, then filling in some panel lines and gun ports on the wings, and on the fuselage below the cockpit opening. Inverting the model will allow you to put the retraction jacks and gear legs in their bays, and the wheels on the axles, with their captive bay doors fixed to the outer side of the legs, adding the tail-wheel into its socket under the fuselage. The belly-mounted radiator is made up from the main fairing with front and rear radiator faces slotted into it, and covered over at the front with the oval intake installing it with a circular light behind it painted with clear orange, and a two-part chin intake in front, with optional resin mesh cover. You have a choice of styrene or 3D printed exhaust stubs with fishtail ejectors that give a good impression of being hollow, especially for their size. Each wing leading edge gets a clear landing light, a T-shaped pitot probe in a small hole in the skin, and for one decal option a set of superb 3D printed cannon barrels with integrated springs. A two-part tropical filter is supplied for some of the decal options, to use as necessary under the nose, then the propeller is made up, the blades of which are moulded as a single part, sandwiched between a spinner cap and the airframe, which has a tapering styrene washer and needs a little glue to keep it mobile within the spinner. The windscreen is fixed to the forward deck after adding the gunsight to the coaming, and has a 3D printed rear-view mirror glued on top. To pose the canopy open or closed, there are two parts, one patterned to fit the cockpit aperture snugly, the other widened slightly so that it can slide over the spine behind the cockpit, stopping just before the aerial mast, from which you’ll need to nip the aerial tab off the back. There are also a pair of wingtip lights in clear that have a tiny bulb-shaped hole inside for you to fill with paint to depict the red or green lamp within. For options with standard guns there are optional 3D parts to replace the styrene barrels, and a pair of appliqué panels in resin that have separate angled deflectors for the outermost ammo chute, which you can see on the additional sheet that accompanies the resin parts in this set. Over the page an eighth decal option is printed, which will require you to pick up some Finnish decals and a Mk.I propeller from another Arma Hobby kit. Markings There are seven decal options on the sheet, five wearing red stars, the other two RAF roundels, and you can build two of the following: Hurricane Mk.IIb, BM959/60, Karelian Front Air Force, 609th Fighter Aviation Regiment, USSR, April 1942 Hurricane Mk.IIa, Z2585/42, Karelian Front Air Force, 152nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, USSR, February 1942 Hurricane Mk.IIc, KX452/64, Northern Fleet Air Force, 78th Fighter Aviation Regiment, USSR, March 1943 Hurricane Mk.IIa, Z5548/48, Soviet Air Force, Unknown unit, Probably 26th Fighter Aviation Regiment, USSR, Winter 1941/42 Hurricane Mk.IIb, Z4017/FU-56, 81 Sqn. RAF, Flight B, Operation ‘Benedict’, USSR, October 1941 Hurricane Baltic Fleet Air Force, 3rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Pilot Cpt. G D Kostyliev, USSR, Autumn 1942 Hurricane Mk.IIb, Z5236/GO-31, 134 Sqn. RAF, Operation ‘Benedict’, Vaenga, USSR, October 1941 Bonus: Hurricane Mk.II, HC-465, ex Z2585, Finnish Air Forces, 34 Fighter Sqn., Spring 1944 There are two sheets of masks Decals are by Techmod, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion What do you get if you take a great kit and put two in the box, plus some extra 3D printed parts and 7/8 decal options? A better package that’s of great interest, especially to those with a thing for the Eastern Front. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi all. My latest completed project - Eduard's Bell P-39N Airacobra in 1:48 scale, from their Bella dual boxing. It's in the colours of the Soviet Air Force, as piloted by Alexandr Fedorovich Klubov Grigoriy Andreevich Rechkalov. Build out of box, but a fancy box - PE, masks, etc. Brush painted in Vallejo acrylics. A long, slow build, not the fault of the kit which was excellent. Just one of those mojo-sappers but got through it in the end - might be a while before I attempt the second kit in the box though! A few imperfections that I'd normally work to fix, but this was just a case of getting it done unfortunately. Having fought to the end of the build, only then did it become clear I'd not managed to cram enough weight in the nose, so a tail sitter unfortunately. I scratch made a little tail stand out of clear sprue, which looks passable I think. Anyway, enjoy!

Hi all, my latest project! Trumpeter's Su-24 in 1:72 scale, in the colours of the Soviet Air Force. Build mainly out of box with exception of canopy mask by Eduard and decals from the always fabulous Begemot. Brush painted in Vallejo acrylics. The aircraft represented belonged to the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment of the VVS, Chernyakhovsk airfield, 1989. As I built this at my usual snail's pace, I can barely remember the construction phase but I think it was all pretty straightforward 😅 I always enjoy building Trumpeter kits and this was no exception. The Su-24 is a truly striking aircraft and the scheme is very nice. However it was quite hard to get good photographs against my white backdrop. Apologies!

Hi all, here's my latest project - PM Model's Yak-15 in 1:72 scale. Built largely out of box, but scratch-made a rubbishy control panel (the kit doesn't have one). Also removed the raised panel lines and rescribed them. Brush painted with Vallejo acrylics. I can honestly say this is the worst kit I've ever attempted! Not fun at all, at least for me. A few reasons: It's incredibly basic. The cockpit is totally bare, and you can see every inch of it through the annoyingly clear canopy. Basically no surface detail beyond the raised panel lines. Cartoonish landing gear bays without a speck of detail. It's totally inaccurate. The cockpit is the worst offender - it's simply the wrong shape. The inlet cone needs a hole scribing right in the middle of it. It's very poor quality. Flash everywhere, misshapen parts (look at the nose inlet ), sometimes the plastic almost has a wavy texture Some might have fun bringing a kit like this into the 21st century (honestly you'd be better off just kitbashing a Yak-3 and an Me-262 engine, which is what this plane basically is!) but for me it was totally demotivating. What's the point of doing all that work scribing panel lines if there's all these other problems / inaccuracies that are beyond my ability / patience to fix? Hard work I can handle, but at least with a multi-day stencilling session on something by Eduard you know it's going to be worth the effort! In the end it was just about getting it done. This was my first time converting raised panel lines to recessed, so in that respect it was a useful learning experience. The kit only cost £5 - which was about £5 too much!! Anyway... enjoy?!? PS don't buy this kit.

Hello all, this is the last of the three builds I’ve had on the go over the last few weeks (F-86D, TF-104G, Su-17). The aircraft was designed in the 1960’s to be an improvement on the earlier SU-7. In fact the early Su-17 was pretty well an Su-7 with swing wings fitted to it. The kit is short run and took quite a bit of cleaning up before the parts would fit well. It’s straight out of the box and is finished using my usual metallic paints of choice, Humbrol 27002 and 27003.with a sealing coat of satin Xtracolor varnish, Without further ado, here are some pics. Thanks for looking Pete

Hello everyone, here are the photos of my most recent model, Accurate Miniatures Yak 1b in 1:48. Since I don't know anything about the Spviet Air Force's camouflage colours, I used RLM 71 for the green, black and RLM 65 for the underside. The model was completely brushpainted with Revell acrylics. My next project may be Hobby 2000's MC 202 or Hasegawa's Ju 87G in 32.